Lethe Bashar’s story is dark and dreamy.  With a name like "Lethe," the river of no memory in Greek Mythology, that should be expected.  He exists in a world of rough characters, dingy surroundings, and little hope.

The author is excellent at establishing atmosphere, as Lethe descends into this grim reality, exploring drugs and the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas.  If anything, the writer succeeds too well at making the story-world seem forsaken, as it makes having sympathy for any particular character almost impossible.  Lethe seems detached from reality, and at the same time trying to experience everything the world has to offer.  This tension between detachment and experience, philosophy and material existence, is one of the themes playing out throughout the story.

All in all, the author has to be given credit for blending real life and fiction to create such a world, mirroring the sharp corners and cracked facets of our own.

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